Manipulations
by StormAscendant
Summary: Riku has tight, complete control over his highschool via little power struggles he calls Manipulations. What happens when the new kid and fresh meat, Sora, is unaffected by his web of lies? Riku must get closer to find out why.
1. Introduction: Me

Life is a web of lies.

With some truth in there too, tangled and almost indistinguishable. Why do I say this? Well, I'm behind a lot of the lies in my life. I create them, make them just for fun, just because I can. It gives me a feeling like I can control what happens in my life, and that's better than any drug I've ever tried. It makes me feel- well, nevermind.

Anyway, I'm a studious, popular kid in high school. On the outside. I do all my homework on time, my teachers like me, my friends like me...everybody. Except, they don't like me. They like the lie that I've turned into me.

In a morality play, I'm the bad guy, the backstabber, the one who kills the protagonist's lover. But at the same time, I'm the supportive nice best friend who's there to pick him up afterwards.

In my time here at school, I've broken up 104 couples, smashed 53 together, and made 15 people lose their best friends. I've also caused 3 local power outages and 2 divorces. In the course of all this mayhem, I've learned to copy almost any style of handwriting, and right now I can make a written note appear as if it's from any one of 158 different people. I've also mastered the art of picking up the way almost anyone speaks, so I can duplicate their style of speech, their mannerisms, and so on. Yeah, it's been fun. I mean, who else has power like that?

I call all these little games I play 'Manipulations,' much the same as a detective calls his individual work 'Cases.' So, why do I do this, you ask? Because I can and it makes me feel good. There's something alluring about that bad guy, liked by everyone but breaking everyone else's heart in the process. But I ramble, lets hear a little bit more about me, and the lie I've created for myself.

My home life is a "Perfect Family Life(tm)," complete with a sibling, two loving, upper-middle-class parents and everything I could really want. Maybe that's why I'm such an evil little child; where's the fun in a perfect world?

Anyway, I come home every afternoon at precisely 3:35, make myself some of that excellent mint green tea, and open my laptop. My online activities range from your average American History papers to my current Manipulation – breaking up Elena and Tristan. Meanwhile, I typically listen to anything nicely depressing – normally some almost-dead-sounding singer moaning about his broken heart and lost love, how he'd do anything for her, etc... I'd like to think that my victims sing that in the confines of their dark, cold minds. One can only hope.

My parents come around, I smile brightly and change to some paper I've already written as if I'm proudly working on it. They grin back. And it all works out.

Anyway, more on my current Manipulation. Among all of my exploits, this is one of the most potentially interesting. Elena and Tristan have "been together" ever since they were five, and are often considered completely inseparable. Ha! As if. I must admit, though, progress has been slow and it is in fact very difficult to get them to believe the lies and rumors I get circulated about them. So far.

Right now, I've got a rumor spreading that Tristan is bisexual, which, believe it or not, is worse than being gay, because Elena knows that Tristan can cheat on her with a guy _or _a girl. This makes her more suspicious of any other contact that Tristan has with _anybody. _Meanwhile I've mastered Elena's style of handwriting and left a note from "her" conspicuously outside Travis' locker. It says something to the effect of "Meet me here – _alone! _I have something to tell you."

Despite Tristan finding this note, however, and Elena discovering Tristan's alleged bisexuality, they're almost as close as ever. That frustrates me, but I'll be all the happier when I add this to my list of conquests. But there's something even better coming up.

Next week a new student from off-island arrives – fresh meat. The new ones are always the most fun, and I'm going to have a great time messing with him. From what I've heard from a few of his friends, he's hyperactive, heartbreakingly nice, and most importantly, incredibly gullible. An easy, corruptible, and most satisfying target.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you my name.

Riku.


	2. Manipulation 105

The light burns.

I forgot to mention, I absolutely _hate _early mornings, mostly because I get in a generous and overall nice mood. It's hard to plot that way. All my malevolence and cunning just seems to fly out the window.

But I don't have time for that today. Step two of Manipulation 105 begins today, and it is going to be very enjoyable. I stare at my reflection in the mirror, noting the feral smile proudly. Then I turn away my attention from the mirror and on to the task at hand; namely eating breakfast and driving to school.

I walk over to a bowl stuffed full of cereal bars; standard morning fare for me. Quick, fast, not requiring much attention. I grab one before immediately walking out the door and into my custom-painted silver Mercedes. The seats are made of pure black leather, imported from Argentina, and the sound system is one of the best in the world. It had been a gift from my parents before they left on their latest business trip.

All in all, the drive takes less than five minutes and moments later I step into school, smiling kindly at everyone around. It's so easy to make people happy by pretending you care about their stupid, insignificant problems. If you just act like you care, people will pour out their soul to you, teary-eyed and full of emotion. It's absolutely revolting. I walk purposefully into the crowd, still pretending to be sorry about the people I knock over.

_There's the target. _Tristan and Elena are standing in front of their shared locker, looking deeply into one another's eyes. _Perfect._ The sick puppy love makes me want to vomit. Who are they kidding? They'll both be together for a little while, one of them will cheat, and they'll both be bawling their eyes out. Why even try?I approach the couple, and Elena meets my eyes. Her eyes look so innocent and beautiful. I think that she's trying to say hello. _Fuck you._

I smile deviously back, walk the last few steps, and grab Tristan by the shoulders. Hard. In one fluent movement, I spin him around to face me, move my hands southward to his waist, and move in for the kill. As my lips close over his, my eyes slip shut and I force myself into his mouth. My hands roam around his belt, smoothing over the coarse fabric of his black jeans. To an outsider, it looks smooth, fluent, and as if both parties are _very _willing. It looks sensual, romantic, and erotic at the same time. It's an acquired skill.

Even so, he tastes like strawberries. Disgusting. It reminds me of everything naïve and over-sweet in life.

A wide smile slides onto my face as I feel a little bit of pressure back on my lips. _Well, maybe he _is _bisexual. _And then gracefully but forcefully, I end it and walk calmly away. Witnesses would later tell me that Tristan stood panting for a moment before looking up in shame at Elena.

Perfect. I had just reinforced the rumor to the point where Elena would be outright suspicious of _any _contact Tristan had with anyone. I turn around for a very short moment and flick my eyes back to the pair of them. Elena is looking at Tristan with a questioning, insulted, and almost mistrustful face. I'm sure he's going to be on a very, very short leash from now on.

And her? Well, I have something very elaborate and tasteful in store for her. There's still a lot of work to be done on Manipulation 105, but lucky for me, I know quite a few lesbians. Better yet, one of them has an infatuation for our dear Elena. Of course, my contact with my lesbian "friends" is completely untraceable; I'm just an online name without a face. An online name who has listened to their problems and pretended to care. And because of all my scheming, I can set my homosexual hounds on that poor, poor misguided girl.

I often believe sexuality is one of my most potent weapons.

---

Please read and review everyone.


	3. The Various Tools of the Trade

Hi everyone! Please review this. I spent a very very long time editing in proportion to writing, just to capture the right voice: manipulative, arrogant, and cunning. I hope you all like it and have a nice day.

PS: I also added footnotes

----

Believe it or not, my Manipulations do have a few rules and guidelines. Just so you're not confused or deceived later on, I'll list them here for you.

_Riku's Rules_

_Trust is a weapon. Anyone who gives it to you unconditionally is a fool._

_Never get emotionally involved with the victim._

_It's really better not to get emotionally involved with anyone._

_Make the Manipulation last as long as it takes; the longer the prey runs, the more juicy the kill is._

_Have fun. That's what this is all about._

_Trust no one unless absolutely necessary._

_Have as many people as possible trust you._

_Keep contacts and many of them, however remain anonymous in all possible dealings._

_Increase influence and power._

_Make everyone continue to believe you care about them. Keep up the facade. _

Seeing as classes today were long, boring, and brain-deadeningly easy, I won't bore you with the details. Mostly. Progress on all fronts regarding Manipulation 105 was made, however, and this made itself obvious during lunch and part of 4th period. Elena and Tristan did not sit next to each other, breaking their record of sitting next to one another every day for the past 684 days. This may be off by three days as I was sick with influenza last year but in all probability my eyewitness sources were correct and they did sit together for those three days.

During lunch Tristan sat with his athletic friends, eating a bag of Lays chips, one carton of French Fries(which are in fact not French at all), a small caesar salad, and packaged lasagna. I might add briefly that the food served by American high schools is completely repulsive and contributes massively to our obesity epidemic. I find it somewhat entertaining that Tristan's choice of lunch is labeled as the "Extreme Health" option at the lunch cart. But I digress.

Meanwhile Elena sat alone, looking quite unhappy. My hypothesis is that she didn't buy Tristan's excuse that he hadn't spent enough time with his friends and he had strategies to discuss about an upcoming football game(1). About midway through lunch, a concerned-looking girlfriend came over to her table, wearing a positively repulsive pink miniskirt with "Las Montanas High School(2)" stenciled in white on it. I guess that must be what the boys go for now. Disgusting.

She bent over Elena's table and proceeded to open her mouth. If one knows Ashley(the repulsive one), it is generally advisable to get as far away as possible when this happens. Either Elena did not know this(unlikely), she didn't want to hurt her friend's feelings(possible), or she was simply too emotionally conflicted to leave(optimal and highly likely.) Fortunately for our dear Elena's sanity, the girl only made some sympathetic faces that rather reminded me of a chimpanzee entertaining itself before leaving.

Aside from the above, the day was entirely devoid of interesting events, and so I entertained myself during the remainder of lunch imagining what schemes I would use on this new kid, "Sora." Manipulation 105, paramount as it is for now, is simply a distraction for me until then, to keep me sated.

Perhaps I would involve him in my love triangles(or rectangles, or any other many-sided shape up to a nonagon(3.)) Or, perhaps I would slowly arrange for his possessions to vanish one by one, and then frame someone who I dislike(4). Or maybe I would approach him as a potential lover and get close to him before completely breaking his heart. Yes, that sounded exquis-

"Riku!?" My head shot up and my eyes locked with those of my math teachers'. He looked somewhat exasperated, which was understandable considering the rest of my classmates behave somewhat like overcaffeinated, sailor-mouthed apes.

That made my scheming, contemplative state evaporate like raindrops on hot pavement. Scanning the whiteboard quickly and making a few mental calculations, I came to the conclusion. It took about three seconds(5).

"The answer is the square root of thirty-three."

Mr. Jansen sighed loudly. I braced myself for a mathematical counterattack and justification of why that was right. I was his star student, after all.

"Yes, Riku, that's correct, but I was actually asking you to close the blinds."

Oh. I walked over to the blinds as Mr. Jansen mumbled something about that he wasn't even going to ask me because he already knew I could answer it.

The rest of the school day passed quickly and I soon found myself at home in front of my laptop, with my customary cup of Twinings(6) Jasmine Green Tea sitting on the desk beside me, still steaming.

I smiled contently and opened up Adobe Photoshop. I had work to do. Hmm....

Earlier that week, I had obtained some pictures of Elena and Travis, one of the more popular students at school, using the excuse that I was in Yearbook Club and needed them for the yearbook. As a matter of fact, I was in Yearbook(7) so there was no way I could be caught lying. I opened the pictures separately before placing them in the same workspace.

Then I switched over to my internet browser with a quick key combination and arrived at the Google Image Search page. Smiling slightly to myself, I typed in 'lockers' and hit enter.

The list of results took less than a second to load, and suddenly the screen was flush with various images of school lockers. To anyone but me, this looked like a page full of pictures of school lockers, but to me, this was a page full of _opportunities._

Let me explain. Each and every one of these images presented a different mood, feel, and overall environment for me to work with on my next masterpiece that I was creating for Manipulation 105. To an artist such as me, who creates drama, beauty, and pain on a palette of real people by swirling the paintbrushes of love and hate, all tools are useful.

Even and especially Adobe Photoshop, and more specifically 'photoshopping' images. I can leave these around on the ground to be discovered, inside a backpack, or post them to Facebook or Myspace. The possibilities are endless.

I must say, not many would have thought of so many different weapons to use against people. Then again, I _am _uniquely creative and talented. But anyway, on with the story.

Carefully, I browse through the images, one by one, taking at least a minute and a half to analyze each one(8), until I find one that is suitable for my needs. The lighting needs to be fairly dark, indicating a kind of secrecy and intimacy, but not so dark as to clash with the images that I have of both Elena and Travis. Additionally, the lockers need to be perpendicular to the camera, as the pictures I have of the two of them are both front-facing and back-facing, respectively.

Most important are the little details, such as the color of these lockers. It is all to easy to paint a masterpiece and then ruin it by having some idiot realize that Elena and Travis, are not, in fact, making out in front of the correct set of lockers(green at our school), and thus raise some interesting and rather unwanted questions. Once all of these individual pictures are perfect, then begins the _hard _work: putting them all into one piece of artwork that looks seamless and real. The emotions must be captured perfectly, channeled directly into the viewer as if it is taking place before him or her.

But, after all, it is an art and I am _the _one and only artist, so this does not present much of a problem. Less than an hour and a half after my initial search begins, I sit with a finished image printed out in front of me on the carpet. I examine it closely, and upon finding no discernible errors, print out several more copies. Then I stroke each and every one gently(9), and delete the file that has been the object of my attention for the last one and a half hours.

I close the lid, smile, and look towards the ceiling. Completing hard work on my Manipulations gives me a joy and sense of accomplishment that none of the joke-called-schoolwork can match. And it also makes me wish for the one thing that I can never, ever have; recognition for my work. I yearn for it constantly, all the while berating myself for wanting something dangerous that I cannot under any circumstances have. Due to my complete lack of trust and faith in the human race, I can have no confidants or partners-in-crime. No, I work alone.

It is at once a blessing, a curse, and simply a fact of life.

1. Oddly enough, she would have been quite correct in assuming that Tristan was lying to her. There were, in fact, no football games scheduled for the next month and a half due to heavy snow.

2. One can only assume that this is the anglicized(and misspelled) version of the English translation of the Spanish plural noun "The mountains." It should be "Las Montañas High School."

3. Two years ago I successfully created a sort of a "love nonagon" involving nine people simultaneously. It was a bitch to pull off, but after 5 weeks of continuous hard work, manipulations, and various unsavory encounters, pull it off I did. It remains among my top 5 accomplishments to date.

4. Quite a few people fall under this category.

5. I mention this because this particular math teacher has a habit of asking questions by rows until he finds a student who knows the answer. The previous 14 students had not been able to answer this question in the 30 seconds allotted to each one.

6. I only drink Twinings. All the other British wannabes taste like dirty dishwater.

7. I make it a point to infiltrate all significant clubs in the school. I find it gives me a much larger source of excuses of why I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

8. This _is_ an art, and a very delicate one at that.

9. Because of the nature of my art, I will never see it again, and thus must cherish it while I can.


	4. Getting Access to Him

Hey everyone, I hope you're liking this and I'm not updating too slowly, although school has started. Do you all like the style in which I'm writing? Please let me know all of your feelings in a review. :) I also fixed a little logical error in the last chapter. Have a great day everyone!

-Storm

----

Tomorrow, I remind myself, tomorrow. Tomorrow?, you ask, what's happening tomorrow?

Tomorrow is the day that Sora arrives, of course. And I have a few preparations to make.

I can barely contain my excitement, and I have to remind myself several times that his arrival is in fact tomorrow, and I must still focus on the task at hand before I can satiate myself with the newcomer, the task at hand, of course, being Manipulation 105. But even as I chastise myself, I remember that it _has _been a long time since we last had fresh meat here.

And my _god, _but that was fun. But I digress. All my future plans and schemes go to the back of my head, I take a deep breath, and reach into my pockets to stroke the photographs gently. They were my only copies and the sole result of all my work yesterday. I chuckle, take another deep breath, and pull open the doors of my school, taking a brief moment to admire my reflection in the glass pane in front of me.

_7:39_

Excellent, not too early, and not too late. I have 21 minutes to place my pictures in the perfect locations, without leaving enough time so that there is a large chance of a janitor finding them. Thirty-five steps inside the building, I casually let one of the photos slip from my pocket. I cast one single look over my shoulder and watch it float like a leaf from side to side, before hitting the carpet.

_One down._

As I turn a corner, a loud, screechy rattling sound comes out of my left pocket. Thumbtacks, to use for posting the pictures on the bulletin boards around the school. Technically not allowed, but school rules are only for those stupid enough to follow them.

It's not long before I finish, having scattered the 11 other images across the school, and am walking into school at the same time as I always do. Thus, with my task finally accomplished, I allow my thoughts to wander back to tomorrow.

For those of you who are confused as to why I seem to have such a curious obsession with Sora, it is very simple. After years of attending classes with my idiot classmates, I've come to know them quite well. Thus, manipulating them holds little challenge compared to someone fresh and entirely new. Predictability leads to boredom, and fresh meat is certainly not predictable, which is part of the allure for me.

But I digress. My mind runs through all the possible ways of making a first introduction, cycling through reasons and possible conversations and situations as I seat myself in 1st period English.

_Hmm..._

Sitting next to me is Student Council President Alicia Roberts, a close friend(1) of mine. I turn to gaze at her and suddenly I feel a spark of inspiration. Perfect.

_Normally the President of Student Council greets new students and gives them a tour of the school...but.._

Suddenly a glint of the light catches my eye, and my gaze shifts down to her lavender purse, hanging by a strap off of her chair. I grin. Once again, perfect. Her cell phone is protruding slightly from her purse.

_Maybe I can arrange some event so that she won't be present. Of course, as Vice President and a thoughtful friend I'd be **more **than happy to fill in for her._

Placing a suitably worried look on my face, I reach out and tap on her shoulder lightly.

"Hey, Alicia? I forgot to tell my mom that I'll be home late tonight, and you _know _she'll kill me if I don't tell her. Could I borrow your phone?(2)" As a matter of fact, my mom couldn't care less where her darling little Riku was, but it worked.

An expression of concern crosses her face as if she really thinks that I'd be grounded or something.

"Sure, Riku! We've still got 5 minutes before class, but hurry!"

Smiling thankfully, I reach out and grab her cell phone and wait until she turns back to the girlfriend she was talking to previously. Then I scroll through the applications until I reach the calendar date for tomorrow. I grin almost evilly and add an event labeled "Talk to secretary about school budget" at the same time as "Show new student around."

_Mission accomplished._

Once again I tap on her shoulder, and when she turns to look I'm all smiles and thankful joy.

"Thank you so much Alicia! I don't know what I'd do without you." She giggles as if she's embarrassed.

"Oh I'm sure you'd do just fine," she replies. I figured that now would not be a very good time to inform her that yes, I certainly would, so I kept my mouth shut.

Suddenly she slaps two fingers to her mouth as it forms a small, red oval.

"Oh my god, I think tomorrow is the day where I have to show that new kid around!" I shrug helplessly as she grabs her phone and rips it open. She always was a little excitable.

I hide my smug smile as a confused look creases her brow.

"Oh no!" she cries, "I completely forgot! I have to talk to the secretary and show him around at the same time! How am I going to do that?" I place a hand on her shoulder and look into her eyes understandingly, trying to convey a sense of friendly duty that I didn't really feel.

"Don't worry about it, Alicia. I can easily show the new kid around. You go take care of that budget thing and I'll worry about the kid." She smiles and hugs me(3), not catching my slip-up(4).

"Thanks, Riku! You're the best!"

As she seats herself once more and the English teacher walks into class, I smile a secret, but very pleased smile.

That was nice work.

---

1. I don't really have friends in the conventional sense, but it's a better word here than 'contact.'

2. I actually have a phone, but pretend I don't as it lets me get into advantageous situations such as this one.

3. A disgusting experience, let me assure you.

4. I wasn't supposed to know that the meeting was a budget meeting, but she didn't catch it, being somewhat slow as she is.


	5. The Remainder of the Day

Alright everyone, a short little filler chapter here. I'm not promising it's exciting, but it does give a little more insight into Riku's character(as all chapter should) and the inner workings of his mind AND it sets the scene for the all-important chapter 6. PLEASE enjoy and please review...thanks

Storm

---

English passed quickly. Even though I had read all of the assigned class readings the previous month and had absolutely nothing to do, I entertained myself with thoughts of the future and what it held in store for me.

"Riku?"

I whipped my head around and my aqua eyes met Alicia's rather dull, ugly brown eyes.

"Yes, Alicia?"

"Time to go! Class has been over for five minutes...what's been going on in that pretty head of yours." Then she reached over and tapped on my head with her index finger lightly.

I shivered, not out of attraction or skin sensitivity, but rather out of disgust. I absolutely hate it when people touch me without permission(1). Naturally, it was a motion misinterpreted.

_Wonderful, absolutely wonderful. Another girl who thinks I might actually like them._

Instead of speaking my mind, which could have landed me in detention had a teacher overheard, I simply smiled in a distracted way and shook my head.

"Oh, I don't know...I've just been distracted." I grabbed my backpack and stood to leave.

"Lets go."

She winked at me rather seductively. Or tried to, rather. It was one of the less sexy things I've seen in my lifetime.

"Sure, Riku. Whatever you want."

I rolled my eyes as I left the room, Alicia close behind me. There were plenty of things that I wanted, none of which she could give me.

_Well, maybe her death._

Brushing that (pleasant) thought aside, I turned towards my second period class, of which thankfully she was not a part of.

I won't bore you with the details of the rest of the day, save for an interesting micro-Manipulation that I worked on during lunch involving a food fight and several detentions.

It was not long before I was sitting in front of my laptop with my green tea, a completed English paper examining the relationship of King Lear and Kent sitting in front of me. Idly, I moved the mouse up to the "Tools" menu and clicked on "Word Count."

**2395. **

Hmm...not bad for a paper that was supposed to be 900 words or longer. I supposed I could have written an extra paragraph near the beginning regarding Kent's fate as compared to the fate of the kingdom, but I decided that enough was enough.

_I'll get an A on it anyway...if not extra credit._

My English teacher _did _like me, and if you added a complex paper with over double the necessary word count, I'd probably do fine.

With a loud slam I closed my laptop and walked upstairs. Having nothing better to do I might as well get my outfit tomorrow ready. It had to be perfect to get the reaction I wanted.

_Hmm. I have to be attractive(2) while simultaneously not looking out of place or too extravagant. I have to look the part of Student Council Vice President too..._

After a few moments spent picking out the optimal assortment of clothing, I lay them carefully across the couch against the northern wall and changed into my nightwear(3).

Tomorrow had a lot in store and I had to be ready to begin manipulating from minute one.

!-- page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --

_Good night, Sora, wherever you are. From now on I'm going to do my best to make your life a living hell._

---

1. This is rather hypocritical as I invade other people's personal space on a regular basis if I feel it will further my cause.

2. Not hard.

3. Classified.


	6. A First Encounter

Sorry for the wait everyone, please enjoy and review.

Storm

---

My eyes snap open and I'm greeted by the sight of my mother's worried-looking face. What a wonderful way to start the morning.

"Riku, dear, it's getting late! Hurry up before you're late!"

Damn. Normally I wake up completely on my own, with plenty of time to get rid of my typical morning happiness. And on such an important day too...

I glance at the fancy silver analog watch on my arm and notice that I have 15 minutes before I have to be at school. I grimace. How am I supposed to shower, get dressed, apply my skin care products and cologne, get my hair ready, and drive to school in 15 minutes?

I shrug before dashing into the shower, humming an annoyingly cheerful tune. _Gotta stop that, _I think to myself before realizing that Sora will probably be more attracted(1) to someone who is cheerful rather than sarcastic and unhappy.

That makes a sincere-looking smile spread across my face instantly. After showering for 7.5 minutes, I turn the hot water off and step onto my white, fluffy bathmat(2). I towel off and step in front of the mirror to begin what I call my "Morning Sexiness Routine."

It involves over 10 different skin and scent products, all of which are all-natural and made by Americans in some picturesque small town, if you would believe the descriptions on the packages(and Whole Foods.) These are what gives me my silky smooth skin and perfect complexion.

Two and a half minutes later, I step out of the bathroom, dress, and am in my car within a minute and a half.

I thank whatever divinities live wherever(3) that I don't have classes today because of "Vice Presidential Duties," otherwise known as showing Sora around.

I walk inside and spot a brown-haired, spiky-headed boy standing down the hallway, looking at all the posters on the wall. A pair of dark blue jeans and a floral button-down shirt mark him as different from most of my esteemed(4) classmates; his pants don't hang off of his hips(5) and he's not wearing something by Hollister. He's thin but not waifish, and there are muscles visible through his shirt.

Two thoughts blur together in my mind:

_That's him._

And

_Sexy._

How do I know it's him, and not just someone who's late for class? Well, firstly, I've never seen him before, he's not dressed according other's perceptions of 'cool,' and he looks confused and lost – but not intimidated. Besides, he just feels _different_(5).

The latter is good – if I'm attracted my overtures will be that much more believable. I take a closer look and notice the innocent look on his face(6) and realize that he's not just attractive, he's damn _molestable. _

Smiling to myself, I walk very silently up behind him and pause for a moment. He notices something interesting on the board and cocks his head slightly, his brown spikes waving almost like a grove of trees in a breeze. I lean forwards, simultaneously bend, placing my lips right next to his ear, and breathe out and whisper 'Hey.' I see the hairs around his ear flutter slightly and the muscles in his neck tense up as he freezes.

Then he spins around and gives me a bright smile.

_What?_

Internally I frown; he's supposed to be frozen putty in my hands.

"You're Riku, aren't you? Alicia's told me ALL about you!"

"Uh...yeah," I say, trying to regain my composure.

"She says you're nice and funny and sweet and-" I stop listening to his babbling for a moment. Already this isn't going my way! I'm going to have to figure out how to manipulate him.

I breathe in and out, focusing only on my breath. Then it hits me; so what if this isn't going my way? It's even more of a challenge now. I have a bright, happy ball of fun in my hands, and it'll be so sweet to see him turn into a pile of depressed mush. A genuinely happy smile springs onto my face as I wait for him to finish talking.

"-so she said you were going to show me around the school, it being my first day and all?"

Giving him a dazzling grin, I oh-so-innocently grab his hand and pull him, paying close attention to his bright red blush.

"Yeah, lets go!"

He stops.

"Hey Riku, do you normally hold the hands of people you've never seen before in your life?"

I don't miss a beat.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I say as I let go of his hand, "At my school we're just all really close and it's just something I'm used to." All a total lie, of course, I wouldn't touch **anyone** in my school if I could help it.

"I-it's fine," he replies, stuttering.

Then he looks up at me shyly and asks hopefully, "Could you show me the art room?"

I smile, but not because I'm eager to show him anything, but because I've found a very useful piece of information; I've discovered one of his passions(8).

Passions are often the key to a person's soul, because if you know what they love to do, you can control them using it. An intimate knowledge of someone's passion is often the same as intimate knowledge of the person themselves; know them, and they are putty in your hands.

"Sure, lets go."

---

1. Attracted here means both as a friend and possibly more – whichever works.

2. Note that this says nothing about my personality.

3. Don't believe in them.

4. Not really

5. To any of you who are thinking that this is love at first sight, please remember who I am – that simply doesn't happen to me.

6. Too bad, really. He's very pleasing to the eye.

7. I can see his face as he's turned perpendicular to me, but hasn't noticed me yet.

8. For those of you who are a bit slow, how do I know art is one of his passions? Well, firstly, because his personality seems the artistic type and out of a choice of any of 58 rooms in the entire school, he chose art first and specifically.


End file.
